A MAGA hat-wearing MMA fighter is criticizing the NBA players who are protesting the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
On Sunday, police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin fired at least seven shots at 21-year-old Blake, who is Black, as he had his back toward them, entering his car where his three children were seated.
Blake's family said he has been left paralyzed from the waist down, the BBC reported, adding doctors do not yet know if it is permanent.
The Milwaukee Bucks began a protest against the shooting on Wednesday, which saw them refuse to play in their playoff match that day, with players from four other NBA teams also taking action.
The decision has been lambasted by the former UFC welterweight championship challenger Colby Covington, who can be regularly seen wearing a MAGA hat at MMA events, waving an American flag, and speaking positively of Donald Trump.
On Twitter, Covington said if they wanted to make a real difference they could retrain as police officers, which is, he said, "the toughest job in America."
Covington said: "Oh wow, you postponed your games?! Wanna prove you're really about change?
"Quit your multi million dollar jobs and soft privileged lives playing a kids game, take a massive pay cut, and perform the toughest job in America. Become cops!"
—Colby Covington (@ColbyCovMMA) August 27, 2020
It is unclear what will happen next regarding the rest of the NBA season, but the playoffs remain in jeopardy as of late Thursday morning.
On Thursday, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers were reported to have voted to end the season early following an "ugly" meeting.
However, ESPN's senior NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted later that according to his sources several key members of the Lakers team expressed optimism that the majority of players wanted to continue the playoffs.
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